Report: Twitter Want News, Facebook Wants Tech

According to a new study, Twitter users are most interested in general news items, while Facebook users are most apt to click on tech-related links.

What are people looking for on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook? According to a new study, Twitter users are most interested in general news items, while Facebook users are most apt to click on tech-related links.

About 28.49 percent of the links people click on inside Twitter go to news sites, according to data from online advertising network Chitika. About 22.56 percent are related to movies, 13.39 percent are about technology, 7.98 percent relate to medical information, and the remaining 27.58 percent were classified as "other."

"While news sites do receive a good deal of Facebook's referrals, they lag behind tech and lifestyle sites--tech sites dominate Facebook's traffic with over 33 percent of the network's referrals going there," the report said.

On Facebook, about 33.22 percent of users clicked on tech-related links, while 18.29 percent went for lifestyle stories. News was third on the list with 18.25 percent, while how-to sites attracted 4.55 percent of traffic. Again, about 25 percent fell into "other."

"The comparison seems to be that Twitterers want knowledge, and to be the first to hear about everything, whereas Facebook users are more interested in being the coolest, with the newest gadgets and hottest fashion," the report said.

Chitika took a sample during the first week in September of just under one million Facebook and Twitter impressions that led to the 60,000-plus Web sites that run Chitika advertisements.

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships at NBC's Meet the Press, washingtonpost.com, the Tate Gallery press office in London, Roll Call, and Congressional Quarterly. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism from American University...
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